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In a bid to address the problem, the Housing Network of Ontario hosted the final meeting in a series of consultations with provincial Housing Minister Jim Watson at the Suomi Koti Non-Profit Housing Facility on Wednesday. The purpose of the meetings was to create a long-term affordable housing strategy. “The possibilities are just beginning,” Joy Asham, a social housing tenant and co-chairwoman of Thunder Bay‘s Economic Justice Committee, said in a news release. “Our community has come together around this basic human need.” The problem lies in the amount of money tenants pay for rent and the number of rental units available. The news release says 17 per cent of all tenants in Thunder Bay spend more than half of their income on rent, placing them in danger of becoming homeless. Many of these renters have to choose between heat and rent. Ruth Westcott, a homeowner living on ODSP and Asham‘s co-chairwoman, said people‘s health is at risk because they have to turn the heat down to keep costs lower. “More tenants are evicted when they can‘t pay both the rent and the heating bills,” she said. “We have higher than average heating costs due to our northern climate and yet social assistance rates do not take these extra costs into account.” The number of rental units has gone down as well, says the release. From 2003 to 2007, rental suites accounted for only two per cent of all housing produced in the city. There are 610 households on an active wait list for social housing, up from 446 in 2008. The province is providing $1.2 billion to repair and retrofit social housing units, create new housing for low-income seniors and persons with disabilities, and extend the Canada-Ontario Affordable Housing Program. Ontario is moving ahead with 39 quick start projects worth more than $76 million, a news release said. In Thunder Bay, 251 affordable housing units have been approved. The province spent another $1.5 million to repair and retrofit local housing units in 2008. “This is the time to look at the housing systems and programs we have in place and make sure they work for the people in this province, now, and in the future,” Watson said in a prepared statement. Residents can add their input online at www.ontario.ca/housingstrategy. Top of Page |
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September 2, 2010, 8:22 am |